GC Violated Divorce Decree, Owes Ex, But Beats Contempt Rap

The former general counsel of LoJack Corp. violated a divorce decree when he failed to pay his ex-wife her share of the money he earned in 2006 from exercising stock options in the anti-auto theft company, the Appeals Court of Massachusetts has ruled.

But although Thomas Wooters must now pay his ex a substantial chunk of change, the result might have been worse: The court vacated a contempt ruling against him for not timely paying all of the alimony that was due to her, reports the National Law Journal in an article reprinted by New York Lawyer (reg. req.).

Although a three-judge appellate panel found, as a matter of first impression, that “gross annual employment income” includes money from exercising stock options, as far as alimony is concerned, it said a reasonable person might have interpreted this language differently.